The 1260 days prophecy in Daniel and Revelation lends itself to various interpretations due to uncertainty as to whether it is to be treated as literal or symbolic. This is one of the areas of prophecy study that I consider be the most technical and can create confusion if we are not very diligent in our Bible studies in this area. Yet, if we apply the right method of prophetic interpretation we will get a better understanding of how we should treat this period.
The Seventh-Day-Adventists seems to be much keener on this time period and perhaps have done more research on the prophecies associated with it than any other denomination. In there teaching they suggest that everywhere that this prophetic period is mentioned in Bible prophecy it is referring to the Dark Ages of papal reign that occurred between 538-1798AD - a period of 1260 years.
This interpretation is based on the day-for-a-year principle that was established in Numbers 14:34 and Ezekiel 4:6. Thus it was interpreted that 1260-days should really be 1260 years. In my Bible study of the prophecies of Daniel and Revelations I have come to realize that the 1260 days prophecy is not as clear-cut as to suggest that all the references to this period should be applied to one particular dispensation.
The different designations of the prophetic period
You will notice that this period is given several descriptions. You will see descriptions such as forty and two months (Rev. 11:2; 13:5), time times and half a time (Dan. 12:7; Rev. 12:14), time, times and dividing of time (Dan. 7:25), and one thousand two hundred and threescore days (Rev. 11:3; 12:6). The forty and two months is 42x30 =1260 days, and the time times and half a time (or dividing of time) is calculated as time = 1 year (360 days), times = 2 years (720 days), and half a time = ½ year (180 days), the sum of which is 1260 days.
In order to ensure a sound understanding of this prophetic period we need to pay particular attention to the context of the prophecy in which this period is mentioned. In my Bible study across the parallel prophecies of Daniel and Revelation I discovered two different contexts in which the 1260 days prophecy is mentioned. They are as follows:
1. The historical context, and
2. The end-time context
The historical context
The most obvious example of a historical application of the 1260 days prophecy is found in the twelfth chapter of the book of Revelations. In this prophecy it was said that when the dragon saw that he was cast down to the earth he persecuted the woman for 1260 days, a period that was supposed have begun a little after the man child (Jesus) was caught up to heaven (Rev. 12:6, 14). In this prophecy the dragon is a symbol of Satan and woman in scripture is a symbol of Israel, the church (Jer. 6:3).
Satan wanted to kill the man child at birth but did not succeed, so he persecuted the church, who bore this man child, for 1260 prophetic days. Therefore, this period of persecution of the church of God came not very long after the ascension of Christ. This is where I believe the Adventists' analysis of prophetic time is correct.
The end-time context
Whenever I think of a last-day context in which the 1260 days prophecy is mentioned, Daniel 12 immediately comes to mind. In my Bible study of Revelation I have also seen where this period is mentioned in similar contexts, but Daniel 12 is the most glaring. In verse 7 the Bible clearly stated that during this prophetic period the king of the north will "scatter the powers of the holy people". But the context of this prophecy is found in verse 1, which tells us about a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation. No unbiased prophecy student will deny the last-day significance of this prophecy.
A clear transition between the historical and the end-time context in the book of Revelation
If you study Revelation 12 and 13 you will see where the Bible makes a transition from one dispensation to the next where the 1260 day prophecy is concerned. As we have established earlier, the mention of that period in chapter 12 is in the context of a post ascension scenario. It was right after Christ was caught up to heaven that Satan began to persecute the church. But when we go to chapter 13 we see a different picture. Now we are seeing the dragon giving power to the beast to persecute the saints for forty and two months. This conflict will take place during the mark-of-the-beast crisis in the last days.
The context changes from a historical war between the dragon and the woman to an end-time war between the beast and the saints. If you study the contexts across the parallel prophecies of Daniel and Revelation, you will see a distinction between past and future applications of the 1260 days prophecy. The day-for-a-year principle is applied in the historical contexts to indicate a period of 1260 years, while the last-day context is to be treated as a literal time period.
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